Focused Vegetable Intake: Green Split Peas and more!

Protein, protein, protein, everyone’s obsessed with protein.
Myself included.

Meanwhile back in your crisper your vegetables are aging like a science experiment.
Groceries are way too expensive to allow that am I right?

Vegetables are an inconvenience for most people and it’s not because they don’t like them necessarily.
You have to wash them. Chop them. Think about them.
And somehow eat a cup (or more) at every meal (ideally)

here’s the situation in a nutshell

Life is busy and if you’re not a food blogger you can run out of ideas / time and energy to deal with vegetables.
Ironic because the right vegetable recipe can give all those things back to you, keep you full longer, support your gut, and load you up with vitamins and minerals.

It’s not all for nothing!

So instead of chasing random vegetable sides all day, I started doing this:

I build the vegetables first.
Roast. Stew. Stir-fry. Bake. Air Fry.
I make a whack all at one time.

Then protein gets layered in.

Not the other way around.

what the heck is ‘Focused Vegetable Intake’

It means vegetables are not decoration.

They’re not the lonely lettuce leaf under your sandwich.
They’re not the pile of “salad ingredients” in your fridge that never actually become a salad.
They’re not the well-intentioned Costco bulk buys slowly testing your commitment.

They’re the base, the foundation, the bulk in any meal that is going to make you feel full!

You aim for:

1 cup minimum per meal

That’s it. No app needed. No macro/micro calculator required and definitely no scale.
Maybe a measuring cup to keep you honest.

Then you add protein to make it complete.

why this works

Listen to your body when you eat something. It’s telling you a story.
When you eat the right food for fueling the body (like vegetables), your body takes care of you by:

keeping you full longer
steadying your blood sugar
improving digestion
better mental focus
a break from all the food noise

When you experience these after effects adding more vegetables to your plate goes from being a chore to being a feel good goal.

in practice

Instead of concentrating on “what protein am I eating” start with “what vegetables do I have on hand?”
It’s a small shift.
Don’t panic.
Protein is still king.
You’re just getting more out of that protein by including vegetables.
Way more.

This is exactly how I found this Smokey Split Pea Bowl recipe.

I looked at what vegetables I had on hand, and then started googling around until I found the most vegetable dense appeared.

It was a Vegan Split Pea Soup.

There was an incident with the sealing of the Instant Pot which changed everything, and my thoughts were I wonder if I can save this somehow – but it wasn’t necessary.
The soup was more of a fork meal now and it was awesome!

I now had a recipe that hit:

fiber
protein
volume
satisfaction

Without forcing myself.

Pairing vegetables with protein helps stabilize blood sugar, improve digestion, increase fullness, and deliver essential vitamins and fiber that protein alone can’t provide.

why split peas are the star performer

Split peas don’t just add texture — they’re doing some serious nutritional heavy lifting.

Per 1 cup cooked split peas (about 196g):

16g plant-based protein
16g fiber
230 calories
Excellent source of folate
Rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus
Low fat
Low glycemic index (supports steady blood sugar levels)

That fiber + protein combo is what keeps you full and helps regulate digestion and glucose release — which is exactly why this bowl works so well as a first meal.